Pravda?: Russians Say They Took Out Al-Baghdadi, Leader of the Caliphate, in Late May

Posted On 16 Jun 2017 /

The Russian ministry said today that Omar Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in an airstrike strike in late May.

BBC carried photos of an airstrike conducted by the Russian military on May 28th that targeted an IS meeting held to discuss the group’s withdrawal from Raqqa:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters he was still seeking the facts of what had happened, saying, “I do not have 100% confirmation of the information about the elimination of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”

Hours after the air strike, IS media released a video showing extensive damage to buildings and a number of dead people, mostly covered up, blaming “US air strikes”.

The US-led coalition said on Friday it could not confirm whether Baghdadi had been killed.

There has been no official comment from Syria’s government.

Russia says the strike also killed about 30 mid-level militant leaders and about 300 other fighters. Their involvement in the area is in support of Bashar Al-Assad.

One must, of course, take the possibility of this being true with a grain of salt. Though it would be an embarrassment to if Baghdadi’s rumored death were proven otherwise, the Russians, under Putin, would not be above boasting, and forging, such a claim.